Shipping case with access opening

ABSTRACT

The disclosure is concerned with large, heavy-duty, paperboard shipping cases of a type constructed from one-piece standard slotted blanks. The front closure flap and part of the front wall are slit, and creases are provided for folding portions of the front wall outwardly to form a V-shaped opening. Advantages include easy access into deep shipping cases, sealing the opening and top flaps with a single strip of tape, strength and simplicity of construction.

I United States Patent [15] 3,666,167 Watts 51 May 30, 1972 [54] SHIPPING CASE WITH ACCESS 3,342,400 9/1967 Kelley ..229/37 R OPENING Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton 72 l t nven or James Harry Watts, Hendersonville, Tenn Atwmey Non is E. Ruckman [73] Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company,

Wilmington, Del. 7 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: 1970 The disclosure is concerned with large, heavy-duty, paper- 21 Appl 95 55 board shipping cases of a type constructed from one-piece standard slotted blanks. The front closure flap and part of the 52 US. (:1 ..229/37 R, 229/16 R {mm wall are and creases are pmvded Mdmg 9" 51] Int Cl B65d 5/16 trons of the front wall outwardly to form a V-shaped opening. [58] Fadofam............113563;;'iiaii'saji7R,37R; Advantagesindudedeepshippingcaseseeal- 2 4 R ing the opening and top flaps with a single strip of tape,

strength and simplicity of construction. 56 R f C't I 1 e ed 1 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,407,919 9/1946 Buttery ..229/7 R X l5 P S u g A H l c d l I I I I i l I I I I 22 I Q 1 Q I 12 I3 I l I I I 1 I i l l l l 1 I 1 Li a I 2i PATENTEnmvao I972 3,666,167

sum 1 or 2 INVENTOR JAMES HARRY WAT TS ATTORNEY PATENTEU MAY 3 0 1972 SHEET 2 UF 2 INVENTOR JAMES HARRY WATTS nvl If ATTORNEY SHIPPING CASE WITH ACCESS OPENING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to shipping containers and more par ticularly to a type of large, heavy-duty, paperboard shipping case being especially useful for shipment of textile fibers and other articles.

2. Description of the Prior Art Shipping cases of the type referred to above are known and extensively used. Rectangular cases are customarily formed with a plurality of flaps at top and bottom for closure. The flaps are generally contiguous with and foldably connected to the side walls. In filling cases of this nature which are to be filled with many articles stacked neatly in rows, the operator repeatedly reaches over a side wall. Although short cases are readily filled by this manual method, it is difficult and in some cases impossible for the operator to reach over the side of tall cases. Artisans have solved this problem in many instances by providing cut-out portions in at least one side of the case to enable the operator to pack a case even though the total depth of the case is nearly twice his reach. Such modified cases are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,706,593 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,601. Although providing means for ease in filling of tall boxes, such expediencies have been shown to have a negative effect on the over-all strength of the case and either necessitate an expensive telescoping-type outer liner or expensive and time-consuming methods of sealing the case, as for instance those necessitating the use of many pieces of gummed tape.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is an improvement in large, heavy-duty, paperboard shipping cases constructed from one-piece standard slotted blanks, having closure flaps at the top and bottom of each of the four walls. The improvement is a continuous slit dividing the top front closure flap into two equal portions and extending down the front wall to a point equidistant from the top and sides of the front wall, and creases extending from the end of said slit to each of the upper comers of the front wall. Easy access into the shipping case is provided by merely folding portions of the front wall outwardly along said creases to form a V-shaped" opening extending down the front of the case. The new case can be securely sealed with only a single strip of tape running from the end of the said slit vertically upward and across the top of the case over the abutting edges of the sidewall closure.

Although not necessarily limited thereto, the new case is preferably of one-piece construction.

The invention will now be described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it being understood that other embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description and the drawings of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view ofthe case blank.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the front wall of the case viewed from the inside of the case and excluding the flaps contiguous therewith.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the open case with the top flaps up.

FIG. 4 is a similar view of the open case with portions of the front wall folded in an outward direction.

FIG. 5 is a similar view of the open carton prepared for filling.

FIG. 6 is a similar view of the carton filled, closed, and prepared for shipment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODINIENT Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like characters of reference are used for like parts, the case blank shown in FIG. I is formed from a one-piece standard slotted blank for rectangular cases. The broken lines in this figure indicate the fold lines or creases in the various walls and flaps. Section portions 10 and 12 constitute the side walls and section portions 1 1 and 13 constitute the front and rear walls, respectively. The flaps 14 and 16 are the outer flaps for the top and the flaps I5 and 17 are the inner flaps for the top. The flaps 19 and 21 are the inner flaps for the bottom and the flaps l8 and 20 are the outer flaps for the bottom. The section portion 22 is a tab for fixedly adjoining side wall 10 to rear wall 13.

In assembling the shipping case for loading, tab 22 is folded upwardly along its crease with respect to contiguous wall 10 and walls 10, l 1, l2 and 13 are folded upwardly along their respective crease lines. Tab 22 is then stitched by stapling or glued to the inner edge portion of rear wall 13 so as to form a rectangular case. Bottom flaps 19 and 21 are then folded in the inward direction. Flaps 18 and 20 are then folded in the inward direction and the bottom of the case is closed by stapling or gluing in customary manner.

As shown in the figures, front wall 11 has a slit r running from a point therein and bisecting the contigious flap 15 into section a" and section b, detailed in FIG. 1. Slit .s'" begins at a point on front wall 1 1 which is the center of a circle which touches the mid-point a of the top edge and both side edges at B and 'y of front wall 11 in tangential manner as shown in FIG. 2. The points a," B, and 'y" are points of tangency of the edges of front wall 1 l with the circle. The circle of FIG. 2 is shown for purposes of illustration only and bears no relationship to the actual physicial markings of the new case.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that the slit .r" could be shorter or longer than shown in the figures or it might even be off-center so that it would not run vertically as shown. Such embodiments, although not preferred, could, in some instances, be workable and thus are considered to fall within the scope of this invention.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, front wall 11 is provided with V-shaped crease q extending from a top corner of front wall 11 through the starting point of slit s to the opposite top corner of front wall 11. Crease q and slit s divide the front wall into isosceles right-triangles c" and d. Crease q, the hypotenuse of a triangular portion, is so disposed as to facilitate outward folding of portions c and d when preparing to fill the assembled case.

In FIGS. 3-6, the new case is shown assembled in upright position as described, with bottom flaps and side tab stitched with staples. In preparing the assembled case for filling, the first step is to place the top flaps in upright position as shown in FIG. 3. The next step is to bend the front walls portions 0 and d" outwardly along crease q to produce a V-shaped" opening in front wall 11. Sections a" and b" of top flap 15 are then folded downwardly as shown in FIG. 4. Section a of top flap 15 is then placed against the outer part of side wall 10 and section b" of top flap 15 is placed against the outer part of side wall 12. This action places sections d" and c of front wall 11 against the outer portion of front wall 11 as shown in FIG. 5. Top flap 14 is then folded downwardly over section 12" of top flap 15 and against the outer portion of side wall 10. In like manner, top flap 16 is folded downwardly over section 11" of top flap l5 and against the outer portion of side wall 12. FIG. 5 shows the case ready for filling. The a" of FIG. 5 refers to section a" of top flap 15 which is tucked between top flap I4 and side wall 10. Top flaps 14 and 16 may be secured in the position shown by means of a large paper clip, or the like. The V-shaped" opening to facilitate loading of the new case is readily apparent from FIG. 5. The notch provides easy access to the interior of the case and the operator, by placing his arm in the notch, is able to reach to the bottom of the case even though the walls of the case are taller than his arm reach is long. Top flap 17 may remain in the position shown in FIG. 5 during filling of the box or it may be desirable to bend it out of the way.

When the new case is filled, it is prepared for sealing by reversing the above steps until the top flaps and wall sections d and c are in the positions shown in FIG. 3. Portions a and b" of top flap l5 and top flap 17 are then folded inwardly 90 along the creases provided. Top sidewall flaps l4 and 16 are then folded inwardly 90 covering top flaps and 17. The new case may be sealed with a single strip of tape. FIG. 6 shows the filled and sealed case, the letter s illustrating the slit which is covered by tape 22" The case of the present invention provides an open V- shaped" area to facilitate filling and unfilling. This is espe cially advantageous when many articles must be placed in tall cases with deep sides as customarily used in the textile industry. The preferred embodiment has proved beneficial for shipping cones and other yam packages where the one-piece construction provides adequate strength without the use of interliners. Other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and interliners may be desirable for some uses. The new case is suitable for use with interliners, e.g., interliners of the type shown in US. Pat. No. 2,706,593.

The advantages of the new shipping cases are numerous. The preferred embodiment of shipping case has the advantage of being constructed of one piece of paperboard. The new case may be sealed with only a single piece of tape. This is advantageous from an economic viewpoint not only in the savings on the amount of tape required for sealing but also in savings of time and eflort on the operator's part. Also, in the new case there are no corners requiring taping and no need for expensive alignment processes in the sealing operation. The new case readily lends itself to an automatic sealing operation because the sealing operation is so simple. Because only a single slit is provided in only one wall of the case, the over-all strength of the case is not severely sacrificed for ease of filling.

I claim:

1. In a large, heavy-duty, paperboard shipping case constructed from a one-piece standard slotted blank having closure flaps at the top and bottom of each of the four walls, the improvement which comprises a continuous slit dividing the top front closure flap into two equal portions and extending down the front wall to a point equidistant from the top and sides of the front wall, and creases extending from the end of said slit to each of the upper comers of the front wall for folding portions of the wall aside to form a V-shaped access opening into the shipping case.

i t I! l I Notice of Adverse Decision in Interference In Interference No. 98,230 involving Patent No. 3,666,167, J. H. Watts, SHIPPING CASE WITH ACCESS OPENING, final judgment adverse to the patentee was rendered Nov. 26, 1973, as to claim 1.

[Ofii'cz'al Gazette February Q6, 1974.] 

1. In a large, heavy-duty, paperboard shipping case constructed from a one-piece standard slotted blank having closure flaps at the top and bottom of each of the four walls, the improvement which comprises a continuous slit dividing the top front closure flap into two equal portions and extending down the front wall to a point equidistant from the top and sides of the front wall, and creases extending from the end of said slit to each of the upper corners of the front wall for folding portions of the wall aside to form a V-shaped access opening into the shipping case. 